The management of Disneyland Paris is taking advantage of smaller crowds and temperate weather to attend to a number of small projects throughout the park. Alain Littaye of the Disney and more blog takes us on a guided tour. ~~Rick

Here we go on another Disneyland Paris update. Special thanks, as always, to Max Fan, D&M contributor and Dlrp Welcome webmaster!

The first Autumn rains have arrived in the north of France but DLP can still expect fair temperatures – and maybe an Indian summer – until the end of October. It’s still not too late for you to visit the park and enjoy decent weather.

In Main Street U.S.A, at Town Square, the surface construction is complete and the parade is now back on its normal route…

If you look closely, you’ll see that the top of the Main Street Transportation Co. building sports a strange net. At first, I thought it might be there to prevent pigeons from landing on the roof, but I quickly dismissed that theory…

In fact, a rehab on the building is scheduled for next quarter. The net is there to prevent construction debris from falling on the guests.

On to Frontierland, and we see that the entrance with the Fort is missing something that has been there for many years. The moose horns over the Fort entrance gate have been removed. Did you know that Michael Jackson was in the park on the night these horns were attached to the overhead beam? It is said that he liked them a lot! Now, the moose horns are gone – who knows where and why…

On the teepees, the smoke effect appears too white and it looks more like a steam than smoke. An oil mixture would make the smoke appear more realistic.

What is a bit less blue, however, is another missing item: a large timbered 3 stamp mill on Big Thunder Island. On the Big Thunder locomotives, the engine’s front driving light is missing and, although the bracket is still there, the large drive wheels are also missing.

At Phantom Manor, some maintenance is taking place at the exit of Phantom Manor’s ride.

Speaking of Phantom Manor, there is good news for DLP fans! DLP Merchandising has introduced new products themed to Phantom Manor. They released these T-shirts several months ago…

Now they have released other cool items for sale in the Park or at the Disney Gallery inside Disney Village. Many of these products are adapted from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion merchandise but re-themed to Phantom Manor:
(Photos: forum Disney Central Plaza)

In Adventureland, we notice that fences have been placed between the Frontierland and Adventureland entrance.

Nothing unusual to see Adventureland, where the Temple du Péril was working fine…

It’s also the time of the year when Adventureland vegetation is at its best. You really feel immersed in a tropical land.

Not much new is happening in Fantasyland, where Peter Pan’s Flight is also surrounded by fences for the refurbishment that is taking place.

Toad Hall Restaurant, one of DLP Fantasyland’s lesser known but best themed restaurants, is open again!

At Discoveryland’s Space Mountain, you may be asked – as it happened to Max – for a bit of help. Space Mountain cast members might ask you to take a badge at the entrance of the queue line that you will then surrender to a CM before boarding the train.

This is done to determine the queue waiting time. The CM will scan the badge on a terminal and the waiting time will appear automatically at the entrance of the ride. A similar system is used in the state-side Disney parks as well.

That’s it for today’s DLP update. Thanks for reading and we’ll be back soon with more news from the Disneyland Paris Resort.

The Collectors Edition of our Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality book has been sold out for several months. But we have some GREAT news for you. A new Open Edition of the book is now in pre-order for just about half the price of the previous edition. If you don’t mind waiting a few months for the book to be delivered, you can order one for a song in the MiceChat Store.

About Rick Wright

Rick has been a long term MiceChat author and co-founder of the Weekend Update. You will often find Rick in the position of "Greeter" at official events due to his warm and welcoming spirit.
If you've got photos, news or trip reports to share, Rick would love to hear from you: [email protected]

Disneyland Paris is really a very beautiful park.
Main Street is the best main street there is at a Disney theme park. It looks so much more expensive and detailed and substantial than WDW.
The Castle creams the others by far. Walking around in the Tunnel of the dragon in the caves below or upstairs touring as the tapestries, stained glass windows, props, and fireplaces all tell the story of Sleeping Beauty is themed so well. The Paris Castle is themed so well that it is immersive almost to the extent of Hogwartz at WWOHP.
Thunder Mountain here is the best too as the island concept of the ride by traveling beneath the lake to get there is so cool and creative.
Discoveryland looks so cool and is timeless due to the retro theming. Space Mountain with the many special effects and loops and corkscrews would be the best if the head restraints weren’t poorly designed. The restraints have a portion which pokes guests in the neck and vibrates painfully so much so that you really must ride in the front 2-3 rows to avoid it.
The Nautilus walk through attraction is excellent!
Fantasyland here has Storybook Land Canal boats, Casey Jr, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Swiss Family Treehouse, a Pirate Island with caves to explore underneath. (This was what WDW could’ve done if they were thinking about the guests instead of just trying to get inside the guests wallet – that’s why all the poor ratings and rampant complaints)

TOMCROSSMAN

Yes, DLP is the best looking Disneyland style park.

But it can’t be compared to DW as there’s a 20 year difference between Disney World and Disneyland Paris. In terms of design, it’s easy to move the pieces around, but you gotta have the pieces first – the pieces happened with DL and WDW. It’s not hard to decide to replace Tom Sawer’s Island with Big Thunder. It’s hard to concept and build Big Thunder.

The Hall of Presidents, Tiki Room, Country Bear Jamboree didn’t make it because that kind of attraction is just out of date, and doesn’t attract the audiences. In ’72 they were cutting edge.

It’s also worth noting that they ****** some things up by making “improvements”. The Haunted Mansions is a good example.

CaptainAction

Good points. WDW could have copied DP’s Fantasyland and I don’t think folks would have been so giganticly disappointed in New Fantasyland though. WDW wouldn’t even have had to get creative but just copy elements of DP and DLand. Instead they built a bunch of rocks, stores, rocks, restaurants, rocks, snack stands, rocks, photo ops, rocks, one of the least popular dark rides currently open, and 3 years and counting toward a Dwarf Coaster.

DisWedWay

I can only guess the “F” stands for Fixed some things up, in creating Phantom Manor for Paris Disneyland above the level of its related editions in other Disney parks. Its the Phantom Manor WED Imagineers wanted to do but Walt was afraid to do.

http://micechat.com Dusty Sage

I find Phantom Manor to be very satisfying. While I grew up with Disneyland’s version and like that one best, I was blown away by the scarier Paris version and love the music. I also love the Paris version of Pirates.

Overall, I think Disneyland Paris is the most beautiful of the Magic Kingdom style parks. The only regrettable things are that they haven’t continued to add enough new things to the park to keep it fresh and haven’t been vigilant about maintenance.

But don’t get me started on the Studios. That park is a train wreck and a blight on the Disney name.

LoveStallion

Disneyland Paris is great. I got to go there a few years back and I was so very pleased with the overall experience. Obviously, it had the benefit of 35+ years of amusement park experience elsewhere come before it, but the outcome is terrific.

- Love the castle. Love that’s it’s different. Love the dragon. Love the topiaries in square shapes, just like in Disney’s most gorgeously-animated film.

- Best Big Thunder. By far. It’s not as much that it’s on the island (which is cool), but the tunnels, especially at the end, are just awesome.

- Hard to call Space Mountain the “best,” as it is so different from its peers, but it’s a great ride.

- I also find this version of Pirates to be my favorite, and no Johnny Depp and Co. to be found.

- Phantom Manor is a great, scarier version of HM. A must-see for a true Disney enthusiast; and I appreciate how the entire Thunder Mesa area has a working story. A broader story across multiple attractions is great.

Only real downsides:

- Indiana Jones coaster is just sort of a throwaway
- Discoveryland’s layout is weird, and the back area by Star Tours seems like something out of 1980s Tokyo Disneyland. It just doesn’t fit.

- WHY DO THEY CONTINUE TO BUILD THE AUTOPIA?!

Dusty – amen on the Studios. What a weird park. This is not hyperbole – I could quite literally jog from the front to the back in probably 35 seconds. That whole place is dang weird. The location of the Tower of Terror is odd. The Armageddon show is terrible. The list goes on. I did enjoy Crush’s Coaster, though I’m perplexed why they don’t offer fastpass.

Excited to see DLRP get an attraction wholly its own, though, in the form of Ratatouille.

DisWedWay

Its really a shame Michael Eisner didn’t go through with the Bob Weis Team’s Studio Tour planned for Euro Disneyland. Steve Kirk who skippered Tokyo Disney Seas was on that team. It would have been better than WDW’s and would have helped to keep the too many hotels going from that point on. The Studio Tour there now just doesn’t fit with the quality of the main Paris Disneyland Park. Alain your photo update overwhelms with the rich detail of PDL. When will you do book on TDS?

CaptainAction

Love Stallion,
The reason they keep building Autopia is because little kids who can’t drive really get a kick out of “driving” a car.
I agree with all your points except on Discoveryland. I love the feel and look of it. The Space Mountain, The Hyperion Blimp coming out of Videopolis, the Nautilus docked in the lake, the almost art deco rocket ride; They all look so cool and can’t go out of date. The Nautilus walk through reminds me of the old Disneyland attraction from the days of Walt. Seems like someone in todays world would have nixed it for the old fashioned walk through style.
The area behind Discoveryland does seem kind of different but hey, you’re in Europe.
Can you imagine how happy a lot of folks would have been if New Fantasyland had been designed like DP Fantasyland?
I’m ok with the Indiana Jones Coaster but everyone would probably be happy with it if it had dark ride areas also.

LoveStallion

CaptainAction,

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the steampunk-inspired stuff in Discoveryland. So much of it is terrific. But I do think the layout itself was a bit poorly thought-out (it might have been smarter to push Space Mountain further to the edge). It is cluttered and doesn’t have much room to breathe or a grand avenue of sorts.

But my main gripe with it is the area beyond Videopolis and Space Mountain – the aforementioned Star Tours part. A lot could be done with that neck of the woods.

Otherwise, it’s a terrific park. I really love it.

DisWedWay

The second Indy coaster ride planned would have had underground dark ride areas but none to the level of Disneyland. By the time Paris Disneylands Indy ride was in concept the budget was very little and what came out of that purse is a miracle.